Get a free audiobook
-
The Queen Mother
- The Untold Story of Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, Who Became Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 25 hrs and 35 mins
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Women
People who bought this also bought...
-
Meghan and Harry: The Real Story
- Written by: Lady Colin Campbell
- Narrated by: Lucinda Bell Howard
- Length: 16 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A balanced account of game changes, conflicts and ambitions. The fall from popular grace of the previously adulated brother of the heir to the British throne as a consequence of his marriage to a beautiful and dynamic Hollywood starlet of colour makes for fascinating listening in best-selling royal author Lady Colin Campbell's balanced account. Lady Colin knows her royal history and psychology, and as the first seven years of her adult life were spent in the USA, she has a foot in both the American and British camps.
-
-
Nasty author writes slapdash book based on hearsay and snobbism.
- By Trish on 2020-08-22
-
Matriarch
- Queen Mary and the House of Windsor
- Written by: Anne Edwards
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 16 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The life of Princess May of Teck is one of the great Cinderella stories in history. From a family of impoverished nobility, she was chosen by Queen Victoria as the bride for her eldest grandson, the scandalous Duke of Clarence, heir to the throne, who died mysteriously before their marriage. Despite this setback, she became queen, mother of two kings, grandmother of the current queen, and a lasting symbol of the majesty of the British throne.
-
Lady in Waiting
- My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown
- Written by: Anne Glenconner
- Narrated by: Anne Glenconner
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anne Glenconner has been at the center of the royal circle from childhood, when she met and befriended the future Queen Elizabeth II and her sister, the Princess Margaret. Though the firstborn child of the fifth Earl of Leicester, who controlled one of the largest estates in England, as a daughter she was deemed "the greatest disappointment" and unable to inherit. Since then she has needed all her resilience to survive court life with her sense of humor intact.
-
-
Fascinating story but the sound editing...
- By Tim B on 2020-06-08
-
Battle of Brothers
- William and Harry - The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult
- Written by: Robert Lacey
- Narrated by: Tim Frances
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From best-selling author and historical consultant to the award-winning Netflix series The Crown, an unparalleled insider account of tumult, secrecy, and schism in the royal family.
-
-
author critical of all parties
- By Jayne on 2020-10-24
-
Finding Freedom
- Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family
- Written by: Carolyn Durand, Omid Scobie
- Narrated by: Omid Scobie
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When news of the budding romance between a beloved English prince and an American actress broke, it captured the world’s attention and sparked an international media frenzy. But while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have continued to make headlines - from their engagement, wedding, and birth of their son Archie to their unprecedented decision to step back from their royal lives - few know the true story of Harry and Meghan.
-
-
Changed my perception of Meghan for the worst
- By chooch on 2020-12-14
-
Behind the Throne
- A Domestic History of the British Royal Household
- Written by: Adrian Tinniswood
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Behind the Throne, historian Adrian Tinniswood uncovers the reality of five centuries of life at the English court, taking the listener on a remarkable journey from one Queen Elizabeth to another and exploring life as it was lived by clerks and courtiers and clowns and crowned heads: the power struggles and petty rivalries, the tension between duty and desire, the practicalities of cooking dinner for thousands and of ensuring the king always won when he played a game of tennis.
-
Meghan and Harry: The Real Story
- Written by: Lady Colin Campbell
- Narrated by: Lucinda Bell Howard
- Length: 16 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A balanced account of game changes, conflicts and ambitions. The fall from popular grace of the previously adulated brother of the heir to the British throne as a consequence of his marriage to a beautiful and dynamic Hollywood starlet of colour makes for fascinating listening in best-selling royal author Lady Colin Campbell's balanced account. Lady Colin knows her royal history and psychology, and as the first seven years of her adult life were spent in the USA, she has a foot in both the American and British camps.
-
-
Nasty author writes slapdash book based on hearsay and snobbism.
- By Trish on 2020-08-22
-
Matriarch
- Queen Mary and the House of Windsor
- Written by: Anne Edwards
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 16 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The life of Princess May of Teck is one of the great Cinderella stories in history. From a family of impoverished nobility, she was chosen by Queen Victoria as the bride for her eldest grandson, the scandalous Duke of Clarence, heir to the throne, who died mysteriously before their marriage. Despite this setback, she became queen, mother of two kings, grandmother of the current queen, and a lasting symbol of the majesty of the British throne.
-
Lady in Waiting
- My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown
- Written by: Anne Glenconner
- Narrated by: Anne Glenconner
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anne Glenconner has been at the center of the royal circle from childhood, when she met and befriended the future Queen Elizabeth II and her sister, the Princess Margaret. Though the firstborn child of the fifth Earl of Leicester, who controlled one of the largest estates in England, as a daughter she was deemed "the greatest disappointment" and unable to inherit. Since then she has needed all her resilience to survive court life with her sense of humor intact.
-
-
Fascinating story but the sound editing...
- By Tim B on 2020-06-08
-
Battle of Brothers
- William and Harry - The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult
- Written by: Robert Lacey
- Narrated by: Tim Frances
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From best-selling author and historical consultant to the award-winning Netflix series The Crown, an unparalleled insider account of tumult, secrecy, and schism in the royal family.
-
-
author critical of all parties
- By Jayne on 2020-10-24
-
Finding Freedom
- Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family
- Written by: Carolyn Durand, Omid Scobie
- Narrated by: Omid Scobie
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When news of the budding romance between a beloved English prince and an American actress broke, it captured the world’s attention and sparked an international media frenzy. But while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have continued to make headlines - from their engagement, wedding, and birth of their son Archie to their unprecedented decision to step back from their royal lives - few know the true story of Harry and Meghan.
-
-
Changed my perception of Meghan for the worst
- By chooch on 2020-12-14
-
Behind the Throne
- A Domestic History of the British Royal Household
- Written by: Adrian Tinniswood
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Behind the Throne, historian Adrian Tinniswood uncovers the reality of five centuries of life at the English court, taking the listener on a remarkable journey from one Queen Elizabeth to another and exploring life as it was lived by clerks and courtiers and clowns and crowned heads: the power struggles and petty rivalries, the tension between duty and desire, the practicalities of cooking dinner for thousands and of ensuring the king always won when he played a game of tennis.
-
Queen Victoria: Twenty-Four Days That Changed Her Life
- Written by: Lucy Worsley
- Narrated by: Lucy Paterson
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Perhaps one of the best known of the English monarchs, Queen Victoria forever shaped a chapter of English history, bequeathing her name to the Victorian age. In Queen Victoria, Lucy Worsley introduces this iconic woman in a new light. Going beyond an exploration of the queen merely as a monarch, Worsley considers Victoria as a woman leading a truly extraordinary life in a unique time period.
-
The Life of Elizabeth I
- Written by: Alison Weir
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 23 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times best-selling author of The Six Wives of Henry VIII and The War of the Roses, historian Alison Weir crafts fascinating portraits of England’s infamous House of Tudor line. Here Weir focuses on Elizabeth I, also known as the Virgin Queen, who ascended to the throne at age 25 and never married, yet ruled for 44 years and steered England into its Golden Age.
-
-
Never a disappointment
- By Monique Groom on 2019-07-24
-
Princes at War
- The British Royal Family's Private Battle in the Second World War
- Written by: Deborah Cadbury
- Narrated by: Cameron Stewart
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
King George V predicted that his son, Edward VIII, would destroy himself within a year of succeeding to the throne. In December 1936 he was proved right, and the world’s press revealed the king was abandoning his throne to marry Wallis Simpson. A life spent in the shadow of his charismatic elder brother left the new king, George VI, magnificently unprepared for the demands of ruling the kingdom and empire. Drawing on personal accounts from the royal archives, Deborah Cadbury uncovers the very private conflict.
-
-
Interesting Look at Edward VIII
- By Morganja22 on 2021-04-04
-
Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret
- Written by: Craig Brown
- Narrated by: Eleanor Bron
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Princess Margaret aroused passion and indignation in equal measures. To her friends, she was witty and regal. To her enemies, she was rude and demanding. In her 1950s heyday, she was seen as one of the most glamorous and desirable women in the world. By the time of her death in 2002, she had come to personify disappointment. One friend said he had never known an unhappier woman. The tale of Princess Margaret is Cinderella in reverse: hope dashed, happiness mislaid, life mishandled.
-
-
Wishywasy
- By Debbie on 2019-11-29
-
Queen Victoria's Matchmaking
- The Royal Marriages That Shaped Europe
- Written by: Deborah Cadbury
- Narrated by: Charlotte Strevens
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A captivating exploration of the role in which Queen Victoria exerted the most international power and influence: as a matchmaking grandmother. Queen Victoria's Matchmaking travels through the glittering, decadent palaces of Europe from London to Saint Petersburg, weaving in scandals, political machinations, and family tensions. It is at once an intimate portrait of a royal family and an examination of the conflict caused by the marriages the Queen arranged. At the heart of it all is Victoria herself: doting grandmother one moment, determined Queen Empress the next.
-
Royal Sisters
- Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret
- Written by: Anne Edwards
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Royal Sisters, Anne Edwards, author of the best-selling Vivien Leigh: A Biography and Matriarch: Queen Mary and the House of Windsor, has written the first dual biography of Elizabeth, the princess who was to become Queen, and her younger sister, Margaret, who was to be her subject. From birth to maturity, they were the stuff of which dreams are made.
Publisher's Summary
Packed with stunning revelations, this is the inside story of The Queen Mother from The New York Times best-selling author who first revealed the truth about Princess Diana.
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother has been called the "most successful queen since Cleopatra." Her personality was so captivating that even her arch - enemy Wallis Simpson wrote about "her legendary charm." Portrayed as a selfless partner to the King in the Oscar-winning movie The King's Speech, The Queen Mother is most often remembered from her later years as the smiling granny with the pastel hats. When she died in 2002, just short of her 102nd birthday, she was praised for a long life well lived.
But there was another side to her story. For the first time, Lady Colin Campbell tells us that the untold life of The Queen Mother is far more fascinating and moving than the official version that has been peddled ever since she became royal in 1923. With unparalleled sources - including members of the Royal Family, aristocrats, and friends and relatives of Elizabeth herself - this mesmerizing account takes us inside the real and sometimes astonishing world of the royal family.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Queen Mother
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Graham Lord
- 2018-11-07
Listen with a huge pinch of salt
I’m not really sure how to summarize his book. There is very little here about the queen mother‘s life. Lots of opinions and gossip. Lots of journeys down speculative roads. I would’ve preferred to hear about the political and social, accomplishments and impact that the queen mother had on her family the country and the world. Having said that the insights that the author gives based on her social connections and interactions with those that knew the queen mother is very interesting and like I said if taken with a pinch of salt, quite entertaining. A little more validation of allegations would have given this book some more clout in its authenticity. It has the feel of a gossiping, name dropping social expose rather than a serious look into the life of the wife and subsequent mother of two monarchs, Which would have provided us with extremely valuable and poignant information.
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- The Barbster
- 2019-01-05
A Real Person
Being an anglophile, I read everything concerning the Royal Family, English history, English gardens and English architecture. I have read the official biography of the Queen Mother and gave it positive reviews but did not write a review. This book I wanted to because of the negative reviews. One of the items I listen for is the references by an author. If I like a book I will purchase that book for my library for my own reference. Lady Colin Campbell, I feel, did a very thorough writing by referencing what she found thru her many years of research. Yes, part of the references can be hearsay, but the listener wants this too because it gives a well-rounded overall view of the person. Many of us never are given the complete view of history. But when you read as many books on one subject, biographies for me, your view is more complete and in depth. Thus, I would highly recommend this book. The narrator is well chosen, Jennifer M. Dixon. Her melodic voice was perfect for this piece. This is now in my Library both in Audibles and at home.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rebecca Bannister
- 2019-02-02
Pulp - and full of inaccuracies
Author had an agenda and stuck to it. Many wrong facts. I listened all the way through but felt committed.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- smith
- 2020-05-13
Drones on and on
This book is painfully long and boring. It may have been tolerable with a different reader. The author very frequently goes off topic to name drop about people she knew but is not related to story. She obviously dislikes Elizabeth the Queen Mother and it was evident all the way through the book. Don’t waste your time.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Linda Erlich
- 2019-06-22
A gossipy novel about the Queen Mother
As I listened to Lady Campbell's book I wondered if she was attempting to create another she-wolf queen consort of England. The queen she described could be compared to other she-wolf queen consorts: Eleanor of Aquitane and Margaret of Anjou for example who were strong women, stronger than their king husbands.
The Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother Lady Campbell describes is narcissistic, manipulative, and extremely controlling. While she may not have had a perfect caring and loving personality, one has to look at her position in life. She was very powerful and used her power to help the people of the UK. She and her husband led the people through the horrors of WWII. They helped people survive and thrive during the Battle of Britian and were bombed along with them. Queen Elizabeth was a smiling tower of strenghth the her people during the was and afterward. In her long widowhood she continued to serve her country and her people. Whatever her motives, she helped people and did not sit back and enjoy the luxurious life to which she was entitled.
Yes this is an untold story of Queen Elizabeth. However, it seems based on gossip not fact. How sad. I suppose there are people who enjoy reading about the deep flaws in famous people. However, if we are to believe Lady Campbell, queen Elizabeth did bot have a authentic, or good bone in her body. She was pure selfishness. As a psychologist, I find this difficult to believe.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- CaliFunYa
- 2019-05-19
Harsh but occasionally interesting
This book was sadly mean-spirited, with an overload of speculation and questionable information. However, it also provided some authentic and substantiated fresh insights... occasionally.
It was a real challenge to listen to the entire book at times because it was so overloaded with unnecessary detailed information about royal and aristocratic bloodlines that it was extremely monotonous.
The author seemed to absolutely prize caustic, (but irrelevant), gossip which often rabbit-trailed away from the ‘story-line’ while peeking through the windows of acquaintances, strangers, and even those who were long dead and buried... most of whom, (both dead & alive), were irrelevant to the life story of the queen mother Elizabeth... having exerted little or no influence over her or her life.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cindykarol
- 2019-02-25
life
I found the book interesting but harsh in personal comments about queen mother .but the book was good little dry in the middle l have re-read so not that bad
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Marlo Yarnall
- 2019-02-09
Unnecessary information
At one point I felt like I was in a British History class and we were going over family ancestry of 1900 England. Not a book I liked because the author got held up with family connections and jumped around from decade to decade at points. If she would have just focused on Elizabeth it would have been half as long.
Not my favorite Royal book
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Margie Books
- 2020-06-28
Spilling The Tea from Duke of Windsor View
Overall not a fair book. It is written with what David and Wallis plus their friends thought of her. The book questions everything. I expected it to be informative and even. I felt like it was a lot of gossip. It paints her as a evil woman who couldn’t love anyone. I had preordered Lady C book on Harry & Meghan. I canceled my order after listening to this book. Worst Royal Bio I have read.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Life Should Be Beautiful
- 2020-06-16
Bitter and mean.
Couldn't even finish this one. Gossippy and mean with spurious claims and opinions from obvious enemies. I can appreciate hearing about the complexities of a person, but this is a hatchet job.